


Long Talks Past Midnight

by Snelly_ESQ



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:46:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24076192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snelly_ESQ/pseuds/Snelly_ESQ
Summary: Glimmer has been having a rough few months. Between political squabbling and a distant marriage, she even briefly considers running away. Then Catra comes along. Turns out, a few weeks in a cell together makes you good friends with someone.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Kudos: 15





	Long Talks Past Midnight

Glimmer sighed. She looked off of the spire, looking down below. She could see everything from here, the bay, the border…

Well, everything but an answer. 

Glimmer and Adora had been unsteady for a while now. Adora was incredibly busy with her job on the security council of the alliance, and ever since the alliance buckled down on the illegal slave trade, many feudal lords in the provinces of Plumeria and Bright Moon had been revolting. Adora had to quell most of those, as the Plumerians had no real standing army, and the Graethites didn’t have the same numbers as Bright Moon. 

The distance was bad enough, but there was just...more to it. Glimmer had always been a...less than favorite choice for some of the council, who frankly wanted to move the power to someone like Castaspella. Casta, in her defense, genuinely didn’t want to be in power, but she was only one voice in a sea of dissent. It felt as if Bright Moon was falling apart from the inside. Glimmer didn’t see much of a way out without having to get very angry with a few folks. 

Or, running. 

No. Not that. That’s heinous. 

Maybe…?

A few backroom conversations with advisors from Mystacor couldn’t hurt. She was the queen, after all, and she had the confidence of practically everyone on the council save for 2 or 3 very powerful players who wanted to shift power to someone who would almost inevitably give it back to her. 

But it was just going to be a hairy situation. 

And what of her marriage? It was a shambles, the two rarely even saw each other anymore. Did Adora even love her? 

She would have been better off with Catra, anyhow. At least Catra is able to go on campaigns with her. She looked down once more.    


“Hey, Sparkles.” A familiar voice. “You’re up pretty late. Isn’t it past good girl bedtime?” 

Catra was leaning on the doorway of the spire. 

“What’re you doing here?”

“Eh, can’t sleep. Looks like you can’t, either.” 

“Well…”

“What’re you looking over it for all the time?” 

“Huh?”

“You drop something down there or something?” 

“No, I just-”

Catra got closer. “Easy, pal, just joking a bit.” She leaned over the railing. “Man. You can really see everything from up here, huh?” She peered out. “We’re really up there, I think that’s...Plumeria isn’t it?”

“We’re close to the border.”

“Still.” Catra sighed. “Nice to be high up and see stuff that isn’t the Fright Zone, y’know?”

“It is. It’s nice to not see any invading armies.” 

Catra laughed. “Man, the past few years have just been bad luck war wise, huh?” Catra hopped to sit on the railing, confident in her balance. She let her tail sway a bit. “The Horde, the horde again, the gray guys, now a bunch of angry lords?” 

“We’re lucky they don’t try to invade.” Glimmer said. “If they did, I’d have authority to sick more of the army on them.”

“What, the cavalry and Adora aren’t enough?”

“They’re slavers, Catra. If I could personally have every one of them hanging out on the gate I would.”

“WOW, glitzy, that’s pretty harsh coming from y-”

“Drawn and quartered, too.” She was almost...seething. 

“Hey, wait, this wasn’t a sore spot for you or anything, was it, Gli-”

“Use that to solidify myself with the stupid advisors from Mystacor NOT named Beylock or Casta.”

“Wait, is this about-”

“That would show them.” She pounded the railing with her fist. “AM I GOOD ENOUGH NOW!?”

“...Glimmer.” Glimmer felt Catra’s arms wrap around her, slowly taking her away from the edge. Catra didn’t want her slipping. 

“I-I just…” Glimmer was sobbing. 

“Wow, okay, Glimmer, easy girl, I-”

“M-maybe then Adora could be around at least….”

“Buddy, Adora’s not-”

“She may as well still be with YOU!” She bawled. “You can BE there for her, I have to put out 30 different fires at once!”

“AAAND WE’RE GOIN’ INSIDE.” Catra took charge of the situation, helping to drag a blubbering glimmer in, get her wrapped in something warm, and taking her to one of the many mess halls in the palace, one that still had a few pastries in it. She tried desperately to get her to eat something. 

* * *

“Glimmer...c’mon.” Glimmer eventually ate a small cookie, letting herself slump back on a chair. 

“What happened?” Catra asked. “Where did all...that...come from?”

“I…” Glimmer looked down. “I guess it all goes back to when I got upset with her the first time, ages ago.” She said. “I’ve always felt...uneasy since then? Unlovable?” 

“Well, she married you.” Catra said. 

“People get married to people they don’t love all the time.” Glimmer ate another cookie. “I just don’t know how to tell with her. She’s never here anymore, and when she is, I’m in meetings.”

“Well, believe me, she and I don’t belong together.”

“You don’t think so?”

Catra looked down. “...I love her. Like, a lot. I really do. But, I mean, at the end of the day, the heart wants what it wants, and she doesn’t want me.”

Glimmer sighed a bit. 

Catra chuckled. “You look almost guilty.” Catra laughed. “Like, what, you think I’m upset with you?” 

“I stole her.”

“You didn’t STEAL anyone. I made mistakes. We both did. Her and I being together….I want it. I really do. I dream about it, still.” She said. “But I know what’s good for me and what’s not. If she and I were together, it would mostly be rough sex and then just going about our days.” 

“Does sound kinda fun.” Glimmer blushed. 

“Not when you want someone to die with.” Catra’s ears drooped. She smiled. “You wanna know a secret about me, glitz?”

“What?”

“I’m a hopeless romantic.” Catra said. “I know I look good. I know I’m pretty desirable that way.” She winked. “But at the end of the day I don’t just want that. Adora and I together would be FAR more than lust, for sure. I was exaggerating earlier.” She ate a cookie herself. “But over time we’ve gone from loving each other to hurting each other so much that I don’t know if we’d get past it. We’d be halfway into a moment and just be like ‘hey, remember that time I tried to kill you?’ I guess we just dug ourselves into holes that I wish I could bring us out of.” 

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Glimmer said. “I wish it never had.”

“Sucks to suck but there it is.” Catra said. “So, no, Adora should NOT just be with me. Although, I won’t lie, I think about it a lot...she was really great when we were together…” She shook her head quickly. “Not important.”

“You still love her?” Glimmer asked. 

“Of course I do! How do you get over someone like her!?”

“Well…”

“I’m sure a part of her still loves me. But she’s a very loyal girl.” Catra said. “If she says she loves you she means it. She doesn’t lie about that stuff.” 

“Oh.” Glimmer smiled. “Well, that’s...one problem done.”

“Oh, good goddesses, is this about those stupid ones on the council? Who’re they, Archibald and Cockface?”

“Alchemar and Colase.” Glimmer rolled her eyes. “Two of the most powerful people in Mystacor.”

“But Casta and Beylock are more powerful, right?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Then it’s settled, you have a majority vote and the ruler of Mystacor on your side, I don’t see what the problem is.” 

“I worry about them taking away the army.” She said. “We can’t go back to relying on them! That’s what lost us the first time around. We tried to mobilize a bunch of mercenaries with different command structures and it was too late by the time the horde got here.”

“Well…” Catra shook her head. “I’m sure our friend DT can find some information?”

“Oh, sure, and while they’re at it they can rip apart any relationships those two have, huh?”

“Still bitter about that, I guess?”

“You aren’t?”

“How I feel about Double Trouble is besides the point. They can be helpful here.”

“...No violence.” 

“I...I mean, I wasn’t planning on telling them to use any? So...sure.”

“Good.” 

The two sat in silence for a while. 

“I’m sorry about you and Adora.” Glimmer said. 

“It’s...alright.” She said. “We aren’t at each other’s throats, we’re still friends.” Catra said. “Just...cuddly friends.” 

Glimmer stretched. “I don’t mind that too much.” 

“Sorry about YOU and Adora.” Catra said. “Her being away all the time, you being busy...never seeing each other is a strain that I never really experienced when we were in the horde.” 

“She tells me you two slept together.”

“Misunderstanding. I slept curled up at her feet.” Catra said. 

Glimmer stifled laughter. “T-that...that makes it better?”

“Shut up, twinkles!” 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She said. “I...need to get some rest.”

“Me, too.”

“Sleep well, yeah?”

“Of course. You too, Queenie.” Catra left for her guest room in the palace, and Glimmer left for the queen’s quarters. She undressed to sleep, stretched, and tried to get to bed. 

Glimmer slept like a log. 


End file.
